Category: The Gun Thing

Not just the guns, but all the stuff that goes with them

Always A Choice

The Gun Thing

Tami talks about snub-nosed revolvers and the joys thereof in the carrying of them.  Here’s a snippet:

The point Werner (the trainer) hammered home most was that accurate shooting is crucial. My 432PD holds six rounds, and the far more typical .38 Spl./.357 Mag. has but five. Ammunition management is important; you need to make good hits.
Werner emphasized the importance of getting a good sight picture and using ammunition that shoots to your gun’s point-of-aim.

Amen and amen, and I say again:  amen.

When I’m not carrying my 1911 (which is only about 20 percent of the time), I carry my S&W Airweight in its Milt Rosen holster, loaded with Hornady Critical Defense .38 Special +P (which the gun loves with a passion):

      

Over the many years I’ve owned both guns, I’ve fired more practice rounds through the 1911, but I’ve practiced far more often with the Smith — while I practice quite a bit with the 1911, I always shoot at least fifteen rounds with the 637 at every  range session, regardless of whatever other guns I’ve brought with me for the day.  Why?  The little Airweight .38Spl is far more difficult to shoot accurately than the Government .45ACP.

And in the much-lamented absence of the .357 Mod 65 in my collection, the 637 serves as my interim bedside gun.  In a bedroom SHTF scenario, you don’t want to be trying to remember how to align the sights and when the double-action trigger will let off.

Tami says it, and I repeat the advice:  if you carry a snubbie, practice shooting it more than you think you need to.

Quote Of The Day

QOTD, The Gun Thing

“So what we see is that there is no direct correlation at the global level between firearm ownership and violence.”  —  Anna Alvazzi del Frate (program director, Small Arms Survey)

There are several interesting snippets contained in this study, which blessedly seems to be focused on data and not an agenda.

The one that’s got the most airplay has been of course that the United States constitutes nearly half of all the guns held in private hands — yeah, I know, we need to do better — but the quote above is, I think, the clincher in the study.  This is because in the grand scheme of things, who and how many gun owners there are is just a statistic;  the more important information is how those gun owners use their guns — and the most interesting observation is that once you exclude military gun use, the most common use for privately-held guns, even with crime included in the incidence, is suicide.

And of course because suicide is going to occur regardless — whether by guns, pills, hanging, falls, jumping in front of trains, whatever — it’s quite clear that including gun suicide in “violent crime” statistics (which is what most of the would-be gun confiscators do) is a mendacious device.  (I know, when someone eats their gun there’s a violent outcome because brain splatter, but it’s hardly a more violent outcome than, say, hitting the sidewalk after a jump from a height of twenty stories, where no gun is involved.)

It’s a fascinating read, and it’s so clinical that not even TIME magazine can spin it into a Schumeresque sound bite.  In fact, the only reasonable sound bite from the study is the conclusion at the top of this post, which is why it’s the Quote Of The Day.

Yeah, That Worked

Gummint, The Gun Thing

“That” being the raft of laws and regulations which prohibit felons from owning guns.

Here’s the story:

Authorities in California acting on a tip swept into a rural home and seized more than 500 guns from a convicted felon, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
The tip indicated Manuel Fernandez, 60, was “in possession of a large arsenal of firearms,” the department said in a statement. On Thursday, a team of state and local officers raided the house in Agua Dulce, about 45 miles north of Los Angeles. Authorities immediately seized 432 guns, the department said.
The next day, another 91 guns were found hidden at Fernandez’s home, authorities said.

Yup:  looks like all those laws which California adds to the federal laws really work, huh?  I mean, a felon possessing guns?  That’s doubleplusunpossible in the Golden [Shower] State, you betcha.

And yet he got the guns, 500 of them, somehow… so California probably needs more laws, like this one.  At least, that seems to be their thinking, such as it is.

Fucking morons.

Not Working

Crime, The Gun Thing

Here’s an interesting little snippet:

Britain is in the grip of a violent crime wave as thugs run riot on mopeds and motorbikes. Shocking figures released yesterday show the armed thieves are striking more than 60 times every day. In a chilling illustration of the crisis, a young woman was fighting for her life last night after her mobile was snatched by moped-riding thieves. And a motorcycle gang targeted yet another luxury store in London on Tuesday. In Birmingham, a masked gang rammed a car in broad daylight before smashing the driver’s window with a machete and hammer. And masked attackers targeted Michael McIntyre when they stole his £15,000 Rolex.

So, my British friends:  how’s that “no handguns in private ownership” thing working out for you, then?

And for all those idiots who start wailing about the horrors of “pitched gun battles in the streets”, allow me to ask how that’s so much different from what’s happening to you now? Other than the fact that almost all the victims are innocent people, not criminals?

I wonder why we don’t have the “moped-gang” problem in Texas.  Oh yeah, that’s right:  we carry guns, and the bad guys know it.  And as a bonus, we don’t have pitched gun battles in the streets — except of course when the criminals start having wars over drug turf in their own neighborhoods, which doesn’t count because it’s a self-canceling problem.

We certainly don’t have mass stabbings in our streets, because — oh wait!  we carry guns, and the bad guys know it.  (And yes:  I know the latter story comes out of Australia.  Where they too aren’t allowed to own handguns.)

Strange how that all works out.

Except That Icky Gun Stuff

Business, The Gun Thing

Last week I got this email message from CitiBank telling me all about the wonderful new benefits of using their little credit card. Here are the salient areas I want to talk about (and note the emphasized parts):

  • Damage & Theft Purchase Protection:   You may be covered for up to $10,000 per incident for 90 days from the date of purchase or delivery of the item purchased with your card. Please note, coverage provided by this benefit will be secondary (meaning if you have another insurance policy, this benefit will cover only the amount your other policies do not). Coverage won’t include firearms, ammunition, jewelry, watches, tires or items that are under the care and control of a third party including, but not limited to, the U.S. Postal Service, airlines, or delivery services.
  • Citi Price Rewind:  You may be reimbursed up to a maximum of $200 per item and $1,000 per calendar year. Program coverage won’t include consumables, tires, watches, firearms, or ammunition. You won’t be reimbursed if the lower priced item is found at a warehouse club where the merchant requires a membership fee.
  • 90 Day Return Protection:  You may be reimbursed up to a maximum of $300 per item and $1,000 per calendar year. Program coverage won’t include firearms, ammunition, tires, jewelry, furniture or appliances.

All these wonderful benefits will be mine after June 29 — which is kind of ironic because that’s the date I intend to cut up and cancel the card, after paying off the final balance.

And what does that final balance include, you may ask?  Just the renewal fee for my annual membership at DFW Shooting Range.